IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 8

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 8 that are worth another look.

World trade will fall by more this year than during the downturn brought on by the global financial crisis of 2008-09 as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are felt.

The fate of the steel world continues to hang in the balance: Numerous scrapyards have stopped operations, blast furnaces around the world have stopped and aggressive offers by traders for Russian and Indian supply have pushed prices down further.

Chinese-Australian miner MMG has declared force majeure at its major copper project Las Bambas after Peru extended its national state of emergency, Fastmarkets learned.

French mining and metals group Eramet will put on hold the construction of its Argentinian lithium production plant for an indefinite period due to the economic uncertainty sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Citic Metal, the exclusive sales agent in China for ferro-niobium from Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração, has set its quarterly price for the April-June period at 205,000-225,000 yuan ($29,035-31,867) per tonne, market sources told Fastmarkets.

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The proposal follows Fastmarkets’ observations that the commodity sees inactive spot liquidity and low volatility in prices. The proposed new specifications for the prices are as follows, with the amendments in italics: MB-NI-0246 Nickel sulfate, cif Japan and Korea, $/tonneQuality: Accepted by buyer for use in battery applications with chemical composition: Ni content, base 22.3% […]
Based on preliminary market feedback, market participants noted that smaller-sized spot market transactions may be skewed and not reflective of the wider market. The aluminium P1020A(MJP), cif Japan, assessment specification which has a minimum tonnage of 100 tonnes will be amended to 500 tonnes after the proposed change. The proposed new specifications are as follows, […]
Fastmarkets consulted the market on the proposed change between April 3 and May 11, 2026. Some feedback was received regarding the publication times of nickel pig iron and laterite ore prices. Fastmarkets will adjust the initially proposed publication times accordingly and proceed with the changes. This decision was first proposed in a methodology note published […]
The price assessments were not affected by the incorrect publication and the correct prices are showing on Dashboard. The price was published at 12.33pm London time instead of the scheduled time of 3-4pm. The following prices were published early:MB-CU-0405 Copper grade A cathode premium, in-whs Shanghai, $ per tonneMB-CU-0383 Copper grade A cathode ER premium, bonded in-whs […]
On Wednesday May 6, a critical minerals panel at Commodities Trading Week in London said metals markets are shifting from an energy transition-led narrative toward security of supply, leaving Europe particularly exposed because of its reliance on imports.
The Canadian government announced on Tuesday May 4 a new financing program worth C$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) to help mitigate the effect of US metals tariffs and support several of Canada’s tariffed industries.